Sundance review: 'Sometimes I Think About Dying,' with Daisy Ridley, is a tender story of love and loneliness

A little magical realism — and a lot of Daisy Ridley — are enough to carry “Sometimes I Think About Dying,” a whimsical, if occasionally strained, look at love and loneliness.

Ridley plays Fran, who works in the office of the port authority of an Oregon coastal town. (The movie was filmed in Astoria, Oregon.) She lives a quiet existence, as if she’s trying to get through the day without anyone noticing she’s there.

Fran walks to her job, sits at a desk and taps away at her computer, then goes home and eats a microwaved patty topped with cottage cheese. That’s her favorite food, she tells her coworkers during an office introduction — though hers is the only food mention that doesn’t spark some kind of conversation with her coworkers.

Fran’s inner life is more exciting, or at least has better staging. As the title implies, she frequently thinks about her death — from such varied methods as hanging from a port crane or being pursued by a boa constrictor.

When one colleague, Carol (Marcia DeBonis), retires so she can take a long-awaited cruise, her job is filled by Robert (Dave Merheje), who has recently moved from Seattle. After a few days getting to know everyone, Robert does something unexpected: He asks Fran out to see a movie.

The contrasts between them are stark. Where Fran is quiet, Robert is chatty. Robert likes movies, and Fran is less interested in films. Fran is a riddle wrapped in an enigma, covered with a bulky sweater. 

The script — written by Stefanie Abel Horowitz, Keven Armento and Katy Wright-Mead — lives in the awkward silences between Fran and Robert, and the moments where Fran’s death-obsessed daydreams threaten to intrude on her waking life. Director Rachel Lambert leans a little hard into Wes Anderson-level whimsy in the early going, but settles down into a good groove as Fran and Robert start learning about each other.

Ridley and Merheje, once they find their vibe, have a nicely offbeat chemistry — which is what propels “Sometimes I Think About Dying” into something touching.

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‘Sometimes I Think About Dying’

★★★

Playing in the U.S. Dramatic competition of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Screens again Friday, Jan. 27, 3:15 p.m., Eccles Theatre, Park City. Not rated, but probably PG-13 for some unsettling images and thematic elements. Running time: 93 minutes.